Answer Me This

By Marisa Demarco

How long is the world's longest chile ristra? After a scuffle with a news cameraman, what happened to one APD officer? Who is Bill Richardson talking about but not endorsing for governor in 2010? Where's the armor on a Typothorax?

1. About 3,250 pounds of red chile went into a record-making ristra that was how long?

a. 57.7 feet

b. 107.7 feet

c. 157.7 feet

d. 207.7 feet

2. What happened to the officer whose altercation with a news photographer was caught on video?

a. He was fired.

b. He was suspended temporarily.

c. He was given a desk job at the Albuquerque Police Department.

d. Nothing; the Metro Court judge ruled in his favor.

3. Gov. Bill Richardson said he likes the idea of who running for governor in 2010?

a. Caleb Crump

b. Mayor Martin Chavez

c. Lt. Gov. Diane Denish

d. Val Kilmer

4. New Mexico scientists discover a fossil that shows the Typothorax had armor on its ...

a. Back

b. Genitals

c. Feet

d. Face

ANSWERS

1. C. State Fair-goers constructed the world's longest chile ristra at 157.7 feet, creating a new category in the book of Guinness World Records. The ristra was hung around the outside of the agriculture building at the fairgrounds.

2. A. Officer Daniel Guzman was fired Thursday. In May, he shoved and detained a KOB news photographer with a camera rolling after the cameraman asked for his badge number. The news photographer was covering an incident, and police told him to move to the media staging area before the scuffle.

3. D. Richardson said he likes the idea of Val Kilmer running for governor in 2010 but clarified later in the week it wasn't an endorsement. He said Kilmer, star of 1988's Willow and a Pecos, N.M. resident, is a "first-rate New Mexican." Kilmer says he was misquoted in a 2003 Rolling Stone article as making some disparaging remarks about the area, including that 80 percent of the people in San Miguel County are drunk.

4. B. The 210 million-year-old animal was found to have spikes around an opening in its nether region, though the New Mexican paleontologists on the case are not sure what they're for. The Typothorax is described as a "big reptilian armadillo."